1974 Suzuki GT380 - Guide a noob on a stuck engine!

h2focus

h2focus

New Member
I have never dealt with a bike with a stuck engine before, so I apologize if some questions are pretty basic. I am looking for advice how to tackle this project, and see if I can get it going

I picked up a 1974 Suzuki GT380 and the engine appears to be stuck. I was told the bike was sitting 8+ years, but "ran great" before it was parked outside. The kick starter will not move an inch when you try to kick it. The bike will also not roll, as if its stuck in gear. The clutch lever when you pull it in, moves fine, and the cable is not stuck. The foot shift lever will move up and down, but it doesn't seem to engage any gears. It seems like its trying to, as there is some play up and down when you try to shift, but nothing clicks or moves.

So far I pulled the 3 plugs. I filled each cylinder with some seafoam / penetrating oil. I am going to let it sit and soak for a week, and see if it will kick over.

If this step does not work, what are some other steps/options?

Is this possibly a transmission issue? My next step was to open the clutch side cover and start looking around in there ???
 
Welcome and good choice, but not the most common base to start with.

At the risk of stating the obvious, grab a manual and parts list from the web and read them from cover to cover. It is possible that the trans is damaged in some way or that the pistons are suck in teh bores. I'd pop the head off an look down from above to see what you can see.

Depending on what that looks like, I'd probably pop the clutch cover off next and the alternator cover. IIRC the points are driven by a nylon gear and if you try to turn the motor over with the nut on the end of the points shaft, the gear will break and they are getting hard to find.

There's tons of info on those bikes on line at SUNDIAL and related sites.

As always the cheapest bike is one that needs little or no work and has a title, but that's not always an option. Grab some pics as you pull the head and clutch cover so we can see what you are seeing.
 
As far as it not rolling - if the drive chain is still attached, cut it off. After all this time it will need replaced anyway. If it STILL doesn't roll, then your brakes are locked up.
 
+1 to everything teazer said. I'm not a patient guy though, so I'd probably just take the head off right now and have a peek.
 
Looking back at my post - don't cut the chain off yet. You can rock the bike back and forth while it's in gear to try to break the pistons loose (assuming they are the problem).
 
Very cool guys, thanks for the info. Fingers Crossed. I will try kicking it over Friday, since it will be a week by then soaking. Also I try the rocking technique as well. If the above do not work, I'll will take the head off, and post some pictures of what we got.

Thanks for all the input. I'll update this Friday !
 
Try rocking it in gear first. As long as the brakes aren't seized up, the transmission should still allow the wheels to roll an inch or two in each direction. And keep checking how much penetrating oil is on each piston - sometimes it will drain past the rings into the crank case.
 
Big Rich said:
Try rocking it in gear first. As long as the brakes aren't seized up, the transmission should still allow the wheels to roll an inch or two in each direction. And keep checking how much penetrating oil is on each piston - sometimes it will drain past the rings into the crank case.
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haha rich you should have seen how much oil came outta that 175 that i got off you but the cylinder was fine once it was freed up i took the plug out and kicked it over fucking oil every where ha
 
Haha! I forgot all about that.

I rocked that dt back and forth as I was standing on the left side of it. Once the piston broke free, it spat oil all over my leg. That's when I said "F*¢k this bike. Brad would love it though".
 
i had an xs 250 years ago that was stuck from sitting a long time. as i was going to strip the engine anyway so i put coke in the barrels to eat the rust. after one day soaking i had abit of movment, day 2 more, day 3 it turned over fine. it made a good job of cleaning the barrels up and only needed new rings! i was expecting a rebore too.
 
Even if after a week or two (or more) of soaking it with penetrant you DO get it to move, after 8 years of setting outside in the Michigan weather, chances are good one of the valves were open so moisture got in and rusted a cylinder. You still are going to want to pull the head and see the condition of it and the valves.
Save yourself the headache and pull the head, use the tire to rock it as Big Rich said and maybe you'll get lucky. The trans may not be shifting because of the engine being stuck. Also the clutch plates could be rusted together not letting them disengauge... or both.
Did you drain the old oil? was there water in there?
 
Hoosier Daddy said:
DAMN... forgot it was a smoker.
In hindsight That makes my post really ignorant... sorry!
Click to expand...

Not really. The idea is spot on. Check things that might have rusted. Don't imagine it will be perfect inside so check everything. Out in only a small detail. The intent is spot on.
 
Re: 1973 Suzuki GT380 - Guide a noob on a stuck engine!

;D It was a successful day guys !

Started rocking the bike back in forth with a friend. The bike started rolling, and turned out it was in neutral. It was very slow to move, and we really had to use some force to get it to roll. So that was a good sign it was at least moving.

We then put the bike into 1st, and rocked it back and forth. After the 3rd rock, the engine turned right over ! It now kicks over super easy and smoothly.

We then took off the front sprocket off, took the chain off, and found out that the rear brake is locked up, which was making it almost impossible to move the rear wheel. The front brake was a little grabby as well. So tranmission is shifting fine, and engine kicks over great. Just need to work on the brakes.

Despite all this good news, should the head still be pulled and the inside inspected? What should be the next steps before going back to normal maintenance procedures?

Man ! What a great feeling when that engine turned over 8)
 
I'm glad we determined that it was the rear drum that was holding everything up. I talked to kyle about how to remove the rear wheel to inspect that brake. It won't be as hard as it looks. Nice meeting you by the way!

Erick
 
I don't understand how seized rear brake would stop engine being turned over with kickstart?
 
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